Designer / Fall 2012 RTW

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For anyone with a job in fashion, the collections can be a stressful time for a variety of reasons. But, you know, at the end of the day, it’s a pretty unbelievable way to make a living. In what other industry would a lunch of individualized tins of Petrossian caviar served by handsome waiters in a Gothic refectory alongside beautiful women wearing glamorous clothes and a rock legend qualify as work? Not many.

So it’s a safe bet that even the most hardened showgoer was warmed by L’Wren Scott’s semiannual runway presentation and lunch on Thursday. The day and evening clothes in her fall collection looked as rich as the Russian delicacies on the tables. A cream velvet peplum jacket was worn over a sensual silk dress in the same shade; a blue pony-hair coat was trimmed in luxurious fox; a slim, V-neck evening dress was encrusted in black and red beads to look almost like roses.

Scott’s starting point was prewar England (thanks to Downton Abbey, a time period also known as season one) and she said she was interested in exploring longer lengths and more architectural necklines. Many of the dresses hit more calf than knee, but the soft draped necks of a yellow silk top and a green crepe dress with gold floral embroidery felt exceptionally fluid.

We’ve seen a lot of strict collections this week (countered by as many oversize ones), and that curve-enhancing silhouette is Scott’s specialty. Yet when others have done severity in a way that felt too severe, Scott’s hourglass shapes still let women move. Whether it’s because she’s a woman or because she’s dressed women for the red carpet (likely it’s both), she understands that the sensuality of a look can be ruined by a hobbled walk. Which might also be why she’s giving them great shoes to walk in: lattice peep-toe heels in colorful velvet and skins.